So I did take a day off to pick up the camper and to play a little bit. I have to ‘fess up. I had to make a purchase. There was no possible way around it. I had to buy a tire and some air. Here’s the story.
The camper had been sitting for 4 years, probably most of it on the flat tires. We were able to fill them up with air, including the spare, although one of them was looking a little leaky. Might as well try to use them, right?
We decided that on the way home we should stop and check the tire pressure and see how they’re doing. One of the tires was a little low, and I didn’t have any cash for the air pump at the gas station. 
I made a joke about using a credit card for the air pump, but I honestly had no idea… the pump had a credit option! I guess I must be old, as I remember the days when air was free. Now air costs $1.00. I decided to suck it up and pay for the air because at this point, we still had the pumped up flat tires. I slid my debit card in the machine, still in disbelief that this air pump took credit cards. Is buying air really buying anything? Still shaking my head, I pulled the card out, waited for it to authorize my account for $1.00 and the pump started. As it turns out, the hose had a leak, so I paid to lose 2 or 3 pounds of precious pressure in the low tire. So I really did pay for air because I got nothing out of that machine. On to another gas station to pay for more air. We filled up with gas and we never did stop again for air, we stopped for the tire blow out.
The tire was shredded, but luckily we had the good spare. Then came the dilemma. I can’t shop. What is we blow another tire? Then we would be stranded. We needed to get another tire as soon as possible, and of course the next store was a WalMart. Shopping at WalMart is not my happy place, but they had the tire we needed to make it back just in case the other tire blew out.
We made the trip home on the old tire and the spare tire, although we had to stop twice for rewiring the lights and once for a photo opportunity. It was a fun adventure and we’re gong to have many more great adventures in this baby! My kids first question was, “Can we paint it?” Duh! Of course we will. Fixer-uppers are the best!
I could have asked my friend to buy the tire, then I pay him back, but I would still be buying a tire and trying to hide it. If there had been another option, I would have looked into it.
Here’s an interesting photo. This has to be the smallest WalMart left on the planet. It looked awkwardly small and made me feel like I was driving through a time warp.
Here’s the best photo from the trip. This was looking in the rear view mirror at the beautiful running lights on the camper with the sun setting behind us and the happy tree on the camper waving it’s branches in the wind. Life is good. :)
